New Delhi, Feb. 26: A senior police official from the region has come under the scanner of Assam police following corruption charges.

National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences additional director Sharada Prasad, a senior IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, is being probed for alleged “misconduct and corrupt practices.”

Sources at the Assam home department said a team of police officials led by inspector-general of police (vigilance) Ashok Das arrived in the capital recently to verify the authenticity of a complaint against Prasad, who belongs to the 1974 batch.

Prasad had headed sensitive departments in Assam like the special branch and the CID.

The complaint was filed by a New Delhi-based businessman, Bhupinder Singh, on July 7, 2002, alleging that the officer had “duped” him of a sum of Rs 2,65,000.

An Assam Bhavan official said a police team had summoned Prasad to the Bhavan yesterday and were also trying to trace Bhupinder Singh. Details of the investigation’s progress are not known. Prasad, however, denied that there were charges against him that were being probed by the police.

“About a year ago, director-general of police P.V. Sumant was asked to investigate some allegations against me but I don’t know anything about the complaint by Bhupinder Singh. The fact that the Assam government has allowed me to come here on a deputation proves that the charges are baseless,” he declared.

A legal notice had been served on Prasad by Singh before the complaint was registered. But Singh’s counsel Maldeep Sidhu said the case against the IPS officer was “weak” as there is lack of evidence of the transaction. “I had advised the complainant to file a civil suit for recovery of the amount but he never contacted me,” she said.